The Deus Ex series has always focused on giving players choices to customize their playing experience. For the upcoming Deus Ex: Human Revolution, Square Enix is presenting players with choices to customize their purchasing experience as well.

Square Enix today announced a premium Augmented Edition of the sci-fi sequel, as well as a pair of add-on packs that will be given to gamers who preorder from participating retailers. Retailing for $10 more than the standard edition of the game, the Augmented Edition bundle will include premium packaging for the game, a 40-page art book, a DVD with behind-the-scenes features, and a motion graphic novel included on a bonus disc.

The Human Revolution will be televised early next year.

As for the add-ons, GameStop has exclusive dibs on the Explosive Mission Pack. Players who preorder from the specialty retailer will get a new mission (with a cameo from original Deus Ex protagonist JC Denton), as well as in-game assists in the form of a grenade launcher, remotely detonated explosives, and an automatic unlocking device. Other participating retailers will be offering the Tactical Enhancement Pack, which includes a sniper rifle, a shotgun, and in-game credits that can be spent on augmenting the main character.

The third installment in the series, Human Revolution will return to the franchise's roots in a number of ways. The game's story will be a prequel set in the year 2027, just as "human augmentation"--enhanced abilities through technological implants--is starting to enter wide use.

Developer Eidos Montreal is attempting to stay true to the original game, allowing players to choose their own approach to each level. Depending on the augmentations players choose, they can go through each part of the game with a focus on combat, stealth, hacking, or even social interactions.

Deus Ex: Human Revolution is set for release early next year on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC. For more on the game, check out GameSpot's previous coverage.

Is this separate from the other two games or are the all intertwined? Maybe they should make an HD version of Deus Ex for the PC, 360 and PS3? I never got to play it fully because of dear ol' Win 7. God, how I wish they would STOP screwing up old games.

Oh, and more importantly, going by the timeline, and according to Deus Ex canon, JC and Paul were the first nano-augmented agents put into the field. Everyone before them were mechs - so does this mean Alex whatever will be a mech? How will augmentations work? Either they're going to have come up with some really contrived explanation to make the augmentations work as smoothly as they did in Deus Ex, or they are going to have to ignore the original's story to some extent.
And putting awesome characters like Tong (well, not so much an awesome character as much as a very important character from a VERY awesome game) into store-specific add-ons is just-plain-evil.
The trailers..the look of the game..looks a little too Invisible Wars-y. It was not a bad game at all, but it still was not......."Deus Ex" (add gold caps and shimmer).
God, I can't believe how much I love that game! :) (And I very much intended to not say "loved")

"For the upcoming Deus Ex: Human Revolution, Square Enix is presenting players with choices to customize their purchasing experience as well."
Nice work :) Although this feels more like "retailer choice" than "player choice". How do tie-ups and exclusives benefit the consumer in any way? :(
Maybe I'm just bitter because I'm in India and the only place I can get any kind of special packages is on Steam. :/ Regular games sell at fantastic prices here though, so can't complain about that!

I disagree, I buy special editions mainly for the art books. I love it when a game showcases the concept art. Anyway... after being completely disappointed by Deus 2, I am finally getting excited again... going on preorder.... now.

Seriously people (me included) aren't going to put up with this crap any longer. You pay for the full game so you get the full game back in return right?
My brothers/sisters we have to take a stand and say no to DLC AKA content being taken out of our games, its not fair! Please stop supporting these money grabbers by simply NOT BUYING IT!

I can't wait. The original Deus Ex is one of the greatest games of all time and the less-than-spectacular score on GS is nothing short of an embarrassment. Hopefully this game follows the original's blueprint rather than the sequel's.

Giving you stuff early on that just makes the game easier isn't much of an incentive to me.An art book and making-of DVD for just 10 extra dollars, on the other hand, is excellent.If the game actually ends up being any good, I'll be going for that.Here's hoping!

"and gamestop offers his share of extra stuff that make the game unbalanced and easier."
Then.....dont use it?
Really, is it that hard to actually use some self control and not use something you dont like? really? come on.

In other words, they want 10 bucks more for an artbook. I wonder how many pc gamers gonna go for that providing that the price is already 60 bucks...and gamestop offers his share of extra stuff that make the game unbalanced and easier.

@peterfaj
They probably mean that you'll meet JC before he went through the nano-augmentation process. I'm pretty sure he and Paul were normal people before the augs, so they were born naturally, not made in a lab

I hate pre-order DLC.
I hate DLC in general.
Btw, how can JC denton make a cameo? I thought this is a prequel. JC didn't yet exist back then, right? Wasn't JC Denton made artificially?
EDIT: Wait, a cameo means an actor (not character) that briefly appears somewhere. Does that mean it will be another character, but they will use the JC Denton model from the original Deus Ex?